AppLovin's (APP) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC reiterated its buy rating on AppLovin and kept a $700 price target, implying about 23% upside from the prior close.
• AppLovin continues to draw mixed but mostly positive analyst attention, with several firms maintaining bullish views; the broader consensus is a Moderate Buy and a target price of $664.35.
• The company recently posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, with revenue up 58.9% year over year and earnings of $3.56 per share versus the expected $3.44.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $700.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target would suggest a potential upside of 23.28% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on APP. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Friday, March 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on AppLovin from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research lowered AppLovin from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup cut their price target on AppLovin from $820.00 to $710.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Argus assumed coverage on AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $520.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $664.35.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APP opened at $567.83 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $450.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $521.20. AppLovin has a 1-year low of $320.00 and a 1-year high of $745.61. The firm has a market cap of $190.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 2.37. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.12. AppLovin had a return on equity of 219.37% and a net margin of 64.29%.The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. AppLovin's revenue was up 58.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that AppLovin will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In related news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.04, for a total value of $23,302,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,480,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,972,140.56. This trade represents a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 163,910 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.49, for a total value of $74,331,545.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,969,382 shares in the company, valued at $3,160,545,043.18. This trade represents a 2.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 454,964 shares of company stock valued at $213,046,785 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 39.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,954,458 shares of the company's stock worth $17,930,776,000 after buying an additional 7,051,663 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 111.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,852,466 shares of the company's stock worth $8,516,471,000 after buying an additional 6,237,051 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 3,118.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,194,071 shares of the company's stock worth $2,826,049,000 after buying an additional 4,063,763 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth $2,040,321,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the third quarter worth $743,899,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting AppLovin

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AppLovin was highlighted by Morgan Stanley as a buy, with the firm reiterating an Overweight rating and a $720 price target. That upbeat call helped send the stock sharply higher and suggests Wall Street still sees more upside in the mobile advertising platform. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Another report noted AppLovin benefited from speculation that Meta Platforms may not bid on some mobile advertising traffic, which could leave more market share and inventory opportunities for AppLovin. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several SEC filings showed CTO Vasily Shikin sold shares in multiple transactions on May 22. While insider sales can weigh on sentiment, the dollar amounts were small relative to his remaining holdings, so the moves may be viewed more as routine portfolio management than a major red flag.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market headlines also referenced AppLovin as a recent big mover and a top performer in the S&P 500, reinforcing that momentum and analyst optimism have been key drivers behind the stock’s strength.

AppLovin Company Profile

AppLovin Corporation is a Palo Alto–based mobile technology company that provides software and services to help app developers grow and monetize their businesses. The company operates a data-driven advertising and marketing platform that connects app publishers and advertisers, delivering tools for user acquisition, monetization, analytics and creative optimization. AppLovin's technology is integrated into a broad set of mobile applications through software development kits (SDKs) and ad products designed to maximize revenue and engagement for developers.

Key components of AppLovin's offering include an ad mediation and exchange platform that enables publishers to manage and monetize inventory across multiple demand sources, and a user-acquisition platform that helps advertisers target and scale campaigns.

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